According to the researchers, detecting the virus using standard tests is
so difficult and time-consuming that delays could be dangerous for patients
incorrectly diagnosed.

The reports found that rapid tests on nose and throat swabs failed every
time, and in Turkey, so did all follow-up tests known as ELISAs.

The only tests that consistently worked were polymerase chain reaction
tests, or PCRs, which can be done only in advanced laboratories and take several
hours.

Dr Anne Moscona, a professor of pediatrics and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical
College, was quoted as saying, "It'll be a disaster if we have to use PCRs
for everybody. It just isn't available at a whole lot of places."

If the H5N1 flu mutates into a pandemic strain, rapid tests â€œwill be really
keyâ€.